by Kimber White
You think you’ll hold out. They all do. You won’t. Don’t think less of yourself for it.
The thoughts in my head weren’t my own. My heart jackhammered as I tried to separate what was happening in my head from what was real.
They won’t hold out, your friends. What are their names?
Finn. Rackham. Jones. The answers popped into my head unbidden. The voice had pulled them out somehow.
See? It doesn’t hurt so much when you just give in. You don’t have to hurt at all anymore.
I tried to keep my mind black. Panic began to seep up my spine. No. I couldn’t let it. Instinct screamed back at me, telling me that’s what he wanted. He. The Alpha. Oh, God. He was inside my head.
I slammed my skull against the wall, trying to drive him out. Where was he? I tilted my head trying to catch the wind. I couldn’t scent anything unusual. His fading laughter rippled through me. Then, I was alone.
When I opened my eyes, it had gone pitch black. The clouds fully obscured the moon and only a few bright stars peeked out. Leaves crunched as uneven footsteps approached. It wasn’t the Pack patrol or the guards. They moved with confident purpose. The owner of those footsteps was trying hard not to be heard.
I went flat on my belly and peered through the gap in the northern wall. She was good. I’ll give her that. She knew how to time her steps with the rustling of the wind. She dressed dark, smearing her face with mud or paint to break up the line of her profile. To any animal out there, the whites of her eyes were the only thing she couldn’t hide.
Please, God, I prayed. Please don’t let me betray her. Let me be strong enough to fight the Alpha off. My head stayed silent. Whatever grip he’d had on me was gone. For now.
When her scent reached me full on, it drove the breath out of me, replacing it with scorching heat that raced up my spine and spread out to my fingertips. She stopped at the edge of the tree line, crouched low, then looked straight at me.
I didn't imagine it. It was the girl from the other night. Those brown eyes seared straight through me. She looked left and right, then came to me, staying low to the ground.
I couldn’t help myself. I reached for her again, closing my fingers around her calf. I needed her. Though it made no sense, the closer she was, the easier it felt to stay out of my head. I was stronger when she was near.
She wore black pants tucked into heavy combat boots. The last time I’d touched her, she flinched. Tonight, she stayed stock still.
“Let go,” she whispered. “Carefully, or the first shot goes straight between your eyes.”
She leveled the barrel of a nine millimeter straight at me, keeping it just out of my reach. Smart. Even in my current state, if she were any closer, there was no way she could squeeze that trigger faster than I could disarm her.
“You think that’ll kill me?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice low enough so the others wouldn’t hear. It seemed to matter to her too. She’d come to the eastern corner of my cell, away from everyone else. Still, I worried that they’d hear or sense her. That should have mattered to me because I wanted to keep them safe. But, the opposite was true. I didn’t want anyone else near her.
“Who are you?” I asked. I carefully lifted my fingers off her leg. I half expected her to run. She didn’t. Instead, she squatted in front of the wall, keeping her hand steady on the nine, the other dangling over her knee.
“I’m going to ask the questions for now,” she answered.
I let out a low laugh. I’d heard that line so many times from so many different torturers since I came here. Common sense said she must just be another one. Brute force hadn’t worked to get me to betray the Mammoth Forest wolves. Of course they’d try a lighter touch in a more appealing package.
“Gunnar Cole,” she started. “You said that was your name. For now, I think I’ll believe you.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. Finn stirred on the far side of his cell and my heart dropped. No. It was better if this girl got gone before even Finn knew she was here. I tilted my head, straining to look up at her from my vantage point on the ground. What I wouldn’t give to be able to smash through this fucking wall and get to her.
“There isn’t a lot of time,” she said, cognizant of Finn’s movements. “So, I’ll be quick. There’s one thing I want to know.”
“And exactly why would I want to tell you anything? What’s in it for me? You gonna shoot me with that thing? I’ll admit, it’ll sting a bit. You might even get lucky and I’ll hold still long enough for you to shoot me between the eyes. It’d have to be a one in a million shot though to actually kill me. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but my kind isn't so easy to kill.”
She dropped from her knees to her belly, putting her face in the wall gap. It got hard for me to breathe. Those dark eyes of her swirled with fury. She was stunning. I’d sensed that, but now I could actually see it. She had a hard beauty with a sharp nose, high cheekbones and lips so full I wanted to taste them.
“And you don’t know a thing about my kind, Gunnar Cole.”
I stayed very still, afraid that if I moved, even to blink, I would spook her and she’d run. As much as I feared for her safety, I needed her here, just for a few minutes more at least.
“Fair enough,” I said. “So what’s your question? I’m curious.”
“Birch Haven,” she answered. It took me off guard. Of course I expected her to ask me about my companions in Mammoth Forest. It’s all the Maestro or any of the Pack torturers cared about. Where did I come from? How many of us were there? Where did we hide? Who was helping us from the outside?
“Sounds lovely,” I said, resting my chin on my hands. I had to be careful. The longer I looked into her eyes, the less I’d be able to hide the turmoil swirling behind mine. I couldn’t let her know she affected me. I had to stay indifferent. Slowly, achingly, I made myself sit up. More than anything, I just wanted to slip my hand through that gap in the damn wall and touch her. For now, I had to settle for the comfort of hearing her breathing.
“Is it still there? I’ve heard rumors and I need to know if they’re true.”
The question stunned me. If she were working for the Pack, she should know by now how we’d liberated Birch Haven. Had the Pack managed to keep it secret? That seemed impossible. It could all be another trick, of course. Get me to believe she wasn’t in the know, I’d be more likely to think she wasn’t sent here by the Pack itself. It couldn’t be a coincidence that I’d just heard the Alpha in my head, then she showed up. And yet, there was something so desperate and hungry about her tone. Every instinct in me told me she wasn’t a friend of the Pack.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“I’m not…”
“Right,” I cut her off. “You’re the one asking the questions. Only, you want something from me. Seems to me I don’t need a damn thing from you.”
It killed me to say that to her. My body screamed the truth. Oh, I needed something from her. I needed her touch. I needed to see her face. My heart thundered with that need and my legs felt weak. Who the hell was this girl? She wasn’t a shifter, and yet there was something unusual about her. She was purely human, and yet, I’d never been around another human who had affected me like this. It had to be me. It had to be the Alpha’s hold. I’d been in pain so long, cut off from the people I cared about for so long...I was looking for something that just straight up wasn’t there.
This had all the hallmarks of something Maestro would do. She was his pawn, his latest ploy to get into my head. It had to be.
“Jett,” she said in a breathless rush. “People call me Jett.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, imagining her face swimming before me. Jett. Jett. Jett.
“Who sent you here, Jett?”
“No,” she answered sharply. “Now you. Birch Haven. I want to know what happened there.”
“Well, see, that’s a pretty big ask. And it would seem to me there are probably other people in better positions than me to tell you about
something like that. Why me? Huh? Why not just take a drive out there and see for yourself?”
“Listen, Gunnar Cole,” she said, her voice rising.
“Keep your voice down, Jett,” I said, loving the sound of her name on my lips. “I don’t know who sent you, but I’m guessing you’re not too keen on attracting the Pack patrols. At least, that’s what you want me to believe.”
“You have a hell of a lot more to fear from the Pack patrols than I do,” she said. “And you’re just about out of time. You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? You know what they’re planning to do with you?”
My throat ran dry. I’d heard this before from Finn. I was next on the list for subjugation. Her telling me now just lent credence to the theory she was one of Maestro’s or the Alpha’s manipulations. Her gun gleamed in the moonlight and my heart thundered so loud I felt sure she could hear it.
I went back to my belly and reached for Jett. She didn’t try to move this time when I reached for her wrist. Electricity seemed to spark between us when my fingers made contact with her skin. Her breath hitched and I could see tiny beads of sweat on her upper lip.
Holy shit. It wasn’t just me. I wasn’t imagining it. There was something about this girl. My pulse spiked. I ran my thumb along the underside of her wrist, feeling the tiny webbing of veins there. It took a second, maybe two, but this wasn’t some trick. Her pulse fluttered where I touched her, rising to match mine.
Jett jerked her hand away. “Stop that! I don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t. Can you help me or not?”
“Help you?” It was such an odd way to phrase it. How was answering her question about Birch Haven helping her? Did she not understand what that place was or even what kind of danger she was in now?
“Forget about Birch Haven,” I said. “That’s the last place a girl like you needs to go anywhere near.”
She crouched lower so I could see her eyes. They flamed with indignation, setting off a new round of jackhammering inside my chest. “It’s too late for that.”
Her words were a blow. My blood ran cold. Birch Haven had been a prison for girls like her. Hell, it was probably worse for them than Camp Hell was for me. The students of Birch Haven College had been used as nothing more than breeding stock for the Alpha’s whims. But, we’d changed all that, hadn’t we? The one hope I clung to, the thing that got me through most days was the knowledge that Mac and Payne had gotten those women out of there and burned the place to the ground. So, why was Jett so interested in knowing about it?
“Tell me why you want to know about Birch Haven. What’s that place to you?”
Hard laughter reached my ears from the east. The guards were headed back this way. “You have to get out of here,” I said, my voice tearing from me.
“You have to answer what I asked you.” Her eyes widened with desperation. She made a nervous glance to the east toward the voices. Squinting, she raised her weapon toward the sound.
“No! You start shooting now, you’ll draw them all down here.”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Finn whispered. “Gunnar, what’s going on?”
Jett froze, her eyes locked with mine. She was truly scared. If she was Maestro’s, she was very good.
“Go back to sleep,” I said. “I had that dream again. The one about the woman with the dark eyes.”
“Mmmm,” Finn said. “Sounded like a good one. The girl with the great tits and the black hair? How far’d you get this time?” Finn’s laughter was a good sign. At the same time, my heart dropped as Jett’s pale skin colored.
“Yeah,” I answered, enjoying the effect it had on her. “That girl. And the rest of it’s none of your business. Go back to sleep. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.”
Finn went quiet for a second. Then, his tone went dark. “I hope so, man. I really hope so. Jones says the top brass is coming the day after. Heard it straight from Legs. You suppose they’re fucking with us? I don’t know, man. Maybe I’m finally losing it, but I can feel ‘em getting closer. Can’t you?”
Jett dropped my gaze. She tilted her head toward Finn, straining to hear what he said. It meant something to her because she let out a sigh and her lids grew heavy.
“Who knows?” I answered. “But they’re always fucking with us. No sense in worrying about rumors. The shit in front of us on a daily basis is bad enough.”
“I don’t know how you do it. How the hell you can keep your head on straight when you know they’re coming for you...you give me hope, man.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, staring straight at Jett.
Finn let out a few more rumbles, but his chains quieted and I knew he’d turned back to the wall. In another second, he’d start snoring. The Pack patrols moved off as well, likely heading south before they doubled back and hit the western perimeter. If Jett left now and headed north, she could be far away before they got here. That is, if she were truly trying to avoid getting caught. On the other hand, maybe they knew all along she was here.
“It’s not a rumor,” she finally said, leaning close to the gap in the wall. I inhaled as she exhaled, drinking in her scent. I had to be careful. The urge to touch her face, to run my thumb along her bottom lip burned strong. If I gave into it, I risked getting her scent on me. If the guards caught it, they could track her.
“I know you know what happens when the Alpha comes for you,” she said. “That’s why you’re in this cell, isn’t it? You figured out a way to live on the outside for a while. Listen, I don’t care about that. I don’t care if your people and the Pack rip each other apart. I just need to know what happened at Birch Haven. That’s all.”
“Why?”
Jett hesitated. Her eyes flickered as she worked out whether to tell me more. “I had friends there.” I knew it cost her something to reveal that much. My heart broke a little wondering who those friends might be. I wanted to take away the pain in her eyes. But, something else burned inside of me even stronger.
“Do you know how to get that one in a million shot?” I asked.
Jett’s lips parted. She seemed a little shocked by the question. I flicked my eyes to her gun. The idea came suddenly, making dangerous hope flare. He’d touched my mind. Maybe I wouldn’t be strong enough to push him out next time.
“Tell me, Jett. You think you know how to kill a wolf?”
She looked down then let her fingers trail over the barrel of her gun. “I know exactly how to kill a wolf.”
“And you think you really know what happens to me if the Alpha shows up?”
She snapped her hard gaze back to me. “Yes. Just like I know what happens to the women in places like Birch Haven.”
“Good,” I said, my pulse rising again. I saw the tiny pulse in her temple flicker to match it.
Voices rose in laughter again. Shit. The patrol had changed course. We had no more time. They were headed this way. Jett heard it too and drew her legs up until she squatted near the gap in the wall, ready to pop up and run.
“Tell me!” she said, raising her voice as much as she dared.
“I’ll do that for you,” I said, cold resolve hardening around my heart like cement. I hadn’t planned this. I had no plan at all until Jett presented me with one. I would not allow myself to be subjugated to the Pack. I would not let the Alpha any further into my mind. No matter what.
“Hurry,” she said.
“You hear something?” One of the guards said as he stopped. Leaves crunched beneath his feet. Jett’s eyes widened in terror.
“Hurry,” she mouthed.
I raised a finger to my lips. “Come back tomorrow night. I’ll tell you everything you want to know on one condition.”
“Name it.” I reached for her, grabbing her wrist. She tried to pull away.
“I’ll give you every detail about what happened at Birch Haven. Because I was there. Wherever you heard that rumor, consider it a reliable source.”
“Is it there? Did they get out? Tell me what you saw!”
I smiled. “Tomorrow night. I’ll tell you. But you have to promise me to take that one in a million shot afterward.”
“What?” Her skin went pale again.
“I’ll tell you about Birch Haven if you promise to kill me.”
Jett’s throat constricted as she took a hard swallow. As the voices grew nearer, she gave me a slow nod. “All right,” she said. “You have a deal. One in a million, Gunnar.”
“That’s right. Now run.”
She did. Her hair flew behind her as her boots crunched on the ground. They were coming. God. They would see her. Then, just like the night before, Jett disappeared straight through the ground.
Seven
Jett
“You are not thinking straight!”
I expected this from Vera. Hell, I even expected it from Melanie. But, when Caroline began to shout, I knew I’d lost them all.
“What was I supposed to do, shoot him right there?”
“No,” Vera said. She stood apart from us. We’d gone down to the lake. Vera had her hand on an elm tree, picking at the bark. “You’re not supposed to shoot him. You weren’t supposed to be seen at all. That was the deal, wasn’t it? You were just gonna do recon, see if there were any new prisoners, how far the tunnel went. If you were lucky, maybe you’d hear bits and pieces that might be helpful. Now, you’ve made contact with this guy. He knows who you are, your scent.”
“He’s not going to…” I stopped myself. What had I been about to say? That he wasn’t going to hurt me? That I knew him, knew his heart? Yes. That’s exactly what I had been about to say. I also knew how crazy it would sound to the rest of them.
Shifters were the enemy. They’d been luring women to them for years, taking them against their will. We’d all seen it. We’d all lost friends and family, people we loved. Shifters did that. They were to blame.
“You don’t know what he’s going to do,” Melanie said. She was calmer than Caro or Vera. She kept her cool eyes on me, sitting on a rotted log next to Caroline. Melanie had a hand on Caro’s back.
